A great website, spotted by our webmaster Paul. It contains articles from the press and magazines around the world and also headlines from events around the world. So, if you ever wondered what the headlines were in Yemen or Serbia, here’s your chance to find out. Each country’s newspaper is listed so you can select a newspaper of your choice to see that country’s news stories. The site also tells you which language the newspaper is in. Click on: worldpress

A retired Florida schoolteacher who went to Iraq to serve as a “human shield” is facing hefty fines, which she is refusing to pay. The US Treasury said that Faith Fippinger, 62, broke the law by crossing the Iraqi border before the war. Her travel to Iraq violated U.S. sanctions that prohibited American citizens from engaging in “virtually all direct or indirect commercial, financial or trade transactions with Iraq.” The government also has asked Fippinger, 62, to detail her travels to Iraq and any financial transactions she made. In her response, Fippinger wrote that the only money she spent was on food and emergency supplies and that “if it comes to fines or imprisonment, “please be aware that I will not contribute money to the United States government to continue the build-up of its arsenal of weapons.” Since she won't pay, she said, “perhaps the alternative should be considered.”

Southwest Airlines, the highly successful US low cost airline – the one that Ryanair is modelled on, has fired two pilots (both men) for allegedly taking off their clothes whilst in the cockpit, in flight.

Southwest is famous for being offbeat. When they started flying in 1971, flight attendants wore hot pants (one assumes the female ones) and were chosen for sex appeal and they are known even today for making funny in-flight announcements, sometimes even in song.

This is not the first time that pilots have behaved badly – America West fired a pair of pilots last year for being under the influence of alcohol in the cockpit after running up a $142 tab at a Miami bar the night before. A Northwest Airlines pilot was arrested in January, after a loaded gun was found in his carry-on.

In a bid to step up flight security, China plans to use policemen disguised as crew members. The undercover police, who may be armed, are undergoing training and are likely to be deployed in October this year.

British Airways has suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia after receiving evidence of a planned attack on a UK jet at Riyadh airport.

Expect to get some good fares between New Zealand and Tasmania: Air New Zealand (ANZ) is to launch a low cost service Tasman Express on October 29th on its trans Tasman route. There is already an Emirates service across the Tasman Sea and Virgin Blue has said it intends to start flights between the two countries later this year.

ANZ also plans to cut the price of fares from Auckland to Sydney by 45 percent to NZD$189 (USD$111) one way, while the total reductions would average about 20 percent.

India's first budget airline, Air Deccan has just started with flights from the southern city of Bangalore. Air Deccan aims to undercut other carriers' fares by 50 percent, will start with one daily service to Hubli and Mangalore, but plans to expand quickly to 20 flights per day to destinations in the south of the country. India's civil aviation minister, Rajav Prat Rudy said: “The days of flying being a symbol of only maharajas or the rich are over.”

Pilots in the US are pressing the government to train more cockpit crews in the use of guns after new warnings about possible terrorist hijack attempts.

The US government has put out a worldwide alert that terrorists may be plotting more hijack attempts on commercial airliners this summer. According to a report from CNN the targets could include Australia, Italy, the UK or the eastern United States. However, the intelligence is still being evaluated and some doubts have been cast on its reliability.

To search this and past issues of our E-newsletter, just enter a word or phrase below, select the search options and click the search button.

Begin PicoSearch Query Box

Ben Sessions from Houston, Texas wrote in to recommend: “a wonderful travel-accommodations club. My wife and I often travel in the US and Europe researching our ancestors and visiting relatives, old friends and new friends. We belong to a travel group The Hospitality Club, which has members worldwide offering free accommodations for travellers. It is free to join and all the members are listed on the internet by country and city. We spent June in Germany and met and overnighted with several members. They were wonderful and quite accommodating. Frugal folks who like and/or need to travel will benefit greatly from this organization, (members have the option of being a host/hostess or not.)